


New Challenge(r)!

by MaskedMildew



Series: ARMS Grand Fics (Heheh) [1]
Category: ARMS (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, i .. love misango
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 06:44:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13945506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaskedMildew/pseuds/MaskedMildew
Summary: A challenge spreads through the ARMS Institute! 'Make Misango laugh (Or smile)!'





	New Challenge(r)!

**Author's Note:**

> Dr. Coyle and Springtron aren't fighters in this, they're not even known by the general public, so Misango is still the newbie.

He'd been here for five months, and yet, his presence was nearly non-existent. No one knew who Misango was aside from the information released by the  _ARMS_  Institute, and that really wasn't much to go on.

"So, alright, he came from uh-- Missingno, right?"  
" _Misanga_."  
"Misanga! Right, sorry. And he's here because he's repping his people, right?"  
"Yes, and the Misangan fighting style."  
"I can dig that. Doesn't sound like half bad a plan. If you wake-up one day and suddenly have the Arms to compete in a widely-known program, why not?"

An event was to be broadcasted tomorrow, so the halls outside of the gym were seeing quite a few fighters travelling to-and-fro. It was the evening now and people were just beginning to clear-out of the area. A small group stayed-behind, however, to watch one person train alone in the facility. It was Misango himself, which struck Spring Man, Min Min, and Kid Cobra odd. Misango had never used the gym in the past when it was unoccupied... people assumed he usually trained outdoors by himself. 

Spring Man stepped away from the window, patting his forehead with a yellow towel that had been slung over his one shoulder. "Anyways... I dunno, man. Maybe he's finally warming up to us?" 

Kid Cobra was still staring intently into the gym, hunched over with his arms crossed, like a snake watching it's prey. Which... made sense, considering tomorrow was Kid Cobra's first fight against Misango. Studying an opponent's moves was always smart, and Cobra was going to take advantage of Misango's training where people could see him. "Hm," He shrugged his arms back, refusing to look away, "Y'know, kinda reminds me of Ninjara. Remember how that guy was all quiet in the beginnin' too? He managed to loosen-up after a bi--" 

Min Min had begun trying to hold back laughter, but by the time Cobra looked her way, it was too late. A finger poked into the snakeboarder's shoulder, and K.C. nearly shed his skin. His long back went straight-up and he jumped half a foot in the air. Spring Man had begun cackling, which spurred Min Min to do the same, the two fighters grabbing-onto each other for support. 

Cobra spun around with a harsh glare, one arm losing it's more humanoid shape as if he were about to hit whoever spooked him. Once he saw Ninjara trying,  _and failing_ , to hold-back a grin, he gave an exasperated huff and rolled his eyes. His arm regained it's form and he used his hand to weakly shove the Ninja's chest. "Don't mess with me, man! I was bouta' hit you, no jokes!"

"But you... didn't."  
"Right, right, whatever! Hey, wiseguys, stop wheesin' over there!" Cobra cringed internally when he heard his lisp. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice or care.

Min was the first to compose herself, sighing loudly and wiping a tear from her eye as she slowly stood straight, patting Spring Man's back. "Ah, hoo! Kid, you should have seen it! Ninjara just walked-out of the changerooms as soon as you said his name, a-and he gave me this smirk, and--" she began laughing again, throwing her head back. Spring Man's laughter trailed-off into a quiet, inaudible wheezing. Ninjara locked-eyes with Kid Cobra another few moments before he began to laugh as well. K.C. simply crossed his arms and tapped his foot, before Spring Man suddenly recovered from his laughing fit. He stood up quickly, towel dabbing at the tears on his cheeks as he got-out the small laughs that remained. "Hey, look! I think we got someone's attention!" he pointed at the glass, and everyone in the small group turned their heads just in time to see Misango watching them, confused. A split second after they focused on him (and a split second before Spring Man could wave 'hello',) he was back to training.

There was a silence for a moment, broken by Ninjara shrugging with a grunt, and Min Min speaking-up. "Aw... I hope he doesn't think we were laughing at him!" Spring Man scoffed and placed his hand on the ramen girl's shoulder, shaking it gently, "Naah, don't worry about it! I do feel bad for getting him out of the zone, though... he seems to take himself seriously!" Min Min nodded in agreement. 

"... He  _is_ a bit similar to me, I think." Ninjara commented, stepping closer to the glass and watching the new member for only a minute before leaning against said glass and looking at his fellow fighters. "Maybe... we--" Kid Cobra cut the other man off, eyes trained on Misango once more. "And how did  _we_  get  _ **you**  _to loosen-up, 'Jara? You were pretty awkward, eh? I mean... y'still are, but with that stunt you jus' pulled, I'm inclined to believe you feel more at home around us  **now**  than you did when you first showed. We uh... th' girl, Mechanica, and  _Springboy_  over here tried for months to get you to hang-out with the crew. I had t' come over and shove toothpaste-head to make you laugh for once."

"Hey!" came Spring Man, who was set-aside as Min's eyes lit-up and she exclaimed; 'I've got it!'.

Everyone's focus was centered on her now, "We should try to get Misango to laugh!" 

"Wh-- Min, have you seen that guy!? He's, like... stone-faced as a rock!"

Despite Spring Man's concerns, both Ninjara and Kid Cobra seemed to consider the challenge. 

"Mmh... aight, how about the first person to make him laugh... or  _smil_ _e,_  I guess... uh... the first person to make him smile or laugh gets to go out for dinner and it's paid-for by the rest of you dorks?" Cobra tapped his chin, grinning under his mask at the others. Min Min, as competitive as she is, immediately accepted the terms. Spring Man sighed and rolled his eyes, but agreed with a dramatic, drawn-out  _'fiiiine'_. Ninjara stayed silent, face blank. K.C. knew he was a bit troubled by the proposal, so he shrugged.

"'Cept Ninja guy here. He's a broke lil' college student. Needs that money for ramen and cheatin' on tests."

Ninjara scoffed and stared incredulously at the back of Cobra's head, but quickly tightened his crossed arms together and looked away, defeated, because he knew it was true. Sans the 'cheating' part-- he'd only done that once in his ' _Footwork_ ' class!

"So it's settled!" Min Min chimed, putting a fist to her palm with the look of determination crossing her features, "The challenge is set! If anyone gets anyone else in the Institution to participate, you have to tell them the rules, alright?" 

The other three all nodded in unison, and turned back to watching Misango, who was blissfully unaware of their pact. After a moment, Spring Man yawned and stretched-out his arms, grabbing-up his duffel bag from the ground and stepping into the center of the hall, "Aanyway... I'm gonna go home and hit the hay. I got a big fight tomorrow, huh? So do you, Cobra! Don't let the excitement keep you up tonight." and after Ninjara and Min Min responded with a 'goodnight', he was off. Next to leave was Ninjara, with Min following close behind after giving a 'good luck' to Kid Cobra, who was still staring silently at Misango.

* * *

Two days passed. Misango had beaten Kid Cobra by a suspiciously-large margin, and Spring Man theorized that that my have been because Kid Cobra stayed-up all night trying to strategize... or playing video games. That new  _Switch_  console was a hit!

Now was the best time to  _spring_ -up and talk to Misango for the first time, to slip-in and congratulate the guy only to start a conversation and get him to laugh! Easy as pie-- a  _pizza_  pie, to be exact. After this challenge was over, Spring Man was going to be chowing-down on free pizza for... well, however-long two large pizzas could last. Probably not even a day, if he knew himself as well as he thought he did.

The door to his locker slammed shut just as the man slipped his pink hoodie on, mentally psyching-himself up. It was showtime, time to make this Misango guy laugh, woo! In the pocket of the hoodie, Spring Man's phone was recording so he had evidence. This was all planned-out, everything would go smoothly. Yeah! Let's  _go!_

He turned the wall of lockers to find the man of the hour in the adjoined washroom, washing his face. He gave a sigh, loosened-up his arms a little, and walked straight into the room with that smile he was  _known_ for. This would be easy!

"Hey, man, heard you beat Kid Cobra!" Spring Man leaned against the entryway, watching as Misango-- hunched over the small sink basin-- dried his face with a towel, and began applying those white markings to it with some sort of oil. 

"Uh... congrats! He's not easy to fight, always  _snaking_ around." Spring chuckled at his own joke, eyes opening again to see the other man had turned to him, and placed the stone capsule of oil into the pocket of his sweatpants. After a moment, Misango bowed his head respectfully. "Thank you."

His voice was a lot less intimidating when he wasn't yelling in a language no one else in the Institute could understand. This managed to catch Spring Man off-guard a bit. He wasn't sure why. He'd only ever heard this guy talk when he was yelling, and didn't expect Misango's actual voice to be so... nonthreatening. 

Shaking his head a bit, he got back into  _the game_ , "Yeah, actually, I've been curious about that little guy that follows you around. It's uh... a spirit, right? I think that's pretty...  ** _ghoul_** _!_ " Spring bent-forward, barking a laugh and planting both of his hands on his knees. He looked-up to judge Misango's reaction and saw him stare back, confused like he'd looked last night.

"Get it? 'Cuz... cool--  _ghoul_... like... ghosts--" Spring Man coughed and stood-up again, rolling his shoulders, "A-anyway... congrats, man. See you around." he ducked-out of the washroom and quickly made his way to the door of the changerooms, pulling his hood up awkwardly.

A shame he didn't stay around a moment longer, because a minute after the young man had fled, Misango shook his head with a small smile, and chuckled.

* * *

Next to step-up to the plate was Min Min. Game-face  _on_. She was ready to go! 

She had to quickly scramble-together her plan of attack, as she found, on her jog, that Misango was jogging the same way. Quickening her pace to come-up beside the man, she gave a bright smile and a wave. "Misango! Nihao!" it seemed she had broken his focus, which she winced apologetically at. His eyes widened and he focused on her, stuttering a bit in his step before slowing to a stop. As he did, she followed, turning around to stand before him.

"Sorry, sorry! I just wanted to say that I really like how you fight!" She put up her fists in a mock fighting-stance before resting them on her hips, "I mean, I was not able to catch the whole fight between you and K.C., but I heard you won! And, aiyah, you already know we saw you training a few days ago... I  _promise_ we weren't laughing at you!" he gave a laugh, slightly winded. Once her eyes opened, she trained them right on a rather neutral Misango.

He gave a small, noncommittal shrug. He probably wanted to get back to his jog. Min's determination and courage wavered, sensing that this new recruit wouldn't be so easily broken-down. 

Perhaps meeting him now was less fortunate than one would assume. But he was rarely ever seen in places that made for easy communication, so Min Min would just have to swallow her doubts and push on!

"Actually, Kid Cobra... he probably jumped a foot in the air, because Ninjara came-up behind him and scared him while he was watching your every move!" she laughed again, snorting a little. Misango's gaze managed to soften with that.

With a sigh, Min Min nodded, one thumb twiddling absently with the hem of her t-shirt. "You know..." maybe she should give-up on making Misango laugh. For now, at least.

"We'd all like to get to know you more! Myself especially, I appreciate your style! So... please don't be nervous to talk to us at all!" Yeah, she would call it quits. 

Stepping back, Min bowed respectfully and twisted around, jogging off too quickly to even notice that Misango had been smiling.

* * *

 The day immediately after, Ribbon girl had plopped herself right down on the park bench beside Mechanica, who was beside Min Min. In front of the bench sat Kid Cobra, unbothered by having to sit on the grass. It seemed the trio had been eating lunch here, as a sort of picnic.

"So! Who here wants to tell me why you all have been pestering Misango?" Ribbon's tone was light and playful, obviously knowing that her friends had no malicious intent. Mechanica, who'd already become somewhat shy as Ribbon Girl sat next to her, shrugged and jabbed a thumb in Kid Cobra's direction.

"Who told you that? Don't tell me you n' Misango are actually best friends?" Cobra's attention shifted from the empty popsicle stick he was holding to the popstar. His mask hid his facial features, but Ribbon Girl could  _tell_ there was a quirked eyebrow under that thing.

She leaned back, hands together on her knee. "Oh... I dunno... I guess a birdie told me!" She turned her head to Min Min who was, to no one's surprise, finishing a bowl of ramen. Once she noticed she was being watched, she turned to return the gaze while still drinking the broth in her bowl.

Ribbon Girl's lip turned-up in a grin. "Have anything to say about this, Min? Don't tell me you brought Rockstar into your games!" she touched a gentle hand to Mechanica's shoulder, and the girl suddenly seemed to snap-out of some stupor. She laughed nervously and shrugged, beaming warmly at Ribbon. "No way, Airess! I just came to sit with these two... all I'd heard was that K.C. here hadn't... done something yet?" She turned her head to the snakeboarder to see if she was right, and he shrugged with a nod.

"Ooh, well, that doesn't answer my question!" Cheery as usual, Ribbon leaned forwards with her elbows on her knees, "What haven't you done yet, Cobra?" 

"Eh, th' night before my fight with Misango, Springs, Minnie, Ninja boy and myself decided t' try an' challenge each other." He cast a glance to Min Min, who'd set down her bowl with a nod, deciding to carry-on the conversation from there. "The first to make Misango laugh gets a free dinner paid for by the other participants! Doesn't that sound fun?" 

Both Mechanica and Ribbon Girl's eyes lit-up, sitting back with an 'aaah' of understanding.

"But we agreed that th' first person t' make Misango smile was good-enough too, cuz Springy complained about that guy bein' stone-faced."

Mechanica laughed, and stood-up from the bench, stretching-out. "Well, that sounds cool! You guys had me worried for a second, I thought maybe you were involved in some weird group or something, haha!" with a yawn, the girl grabbed-up her yellow canvas lunch bag and bumped her fist to Cobra's. "I think I'm gonna get back to tinkering, but that's a nice challenge! I'll probably try it out-- I could go for some free kimchi-- but I dunno. I'm a bit nervous talking to people I don't know," she turned and bowed playfully towards Ribbon Girl, who made a show of bowing back from her seat. With a wave towards Min Min, who returned it, the girl was jogging off. "See you guys!"

With Mechanica gone, Ribbon turned to face both of the remaining fighters more easily. "You know... I agree with what Rockstar said! That is a very nice challenge! You don't hear of that often." 

"Well, we wouldn't want t' scare off the new guy, right? We can wait until  _after_ he's done gettin' used to us... and then I can put my snake buddies in his locker." Cobra's hissing laugh was interrupted by a flick on the forehead by Min Min. She was grinning, though. "Ah! Well, it  ** _is_** true. Who were the people we did that to? Mummy, Lola and Ninjara? The only one we got a laugh out of there was Lola, but I think she laughs at everything."

"Hey! Mister Mums liked my boys a lot!" Kid Cobra's back straightened-out like a threatening snake, his hand pressed to his puffed-out chest. Ribbon Girl was laughing airily, fingertips to her mouth. 

"Alright, you two! Mind if I join in? I can pitch-in money for whoever wins if it comes to that, but... ah, I'll be honest! I'm not the best at being funny. I'll try my best though!" With that, she hopped-up to her feet and bowed energetically. When she popped back up, she pressed her hands to her mouth and held them out "Goodbye, you two! Make sure to catch it on video if either of you  _do_ make him laugh!" and the popstar was off.

* * *

Next to the plate was Kid Cobra himself. It had taken him two days after Min Min's attempt, because... well, he actually couldn't come up with anything that might make Misango laugh. Also, getting ahold of Misango was still a challenge... Spring Man and Min Min must've been lucky.

Oh? It seemed it was Cobra's turn to be lucky, now! He'd been scouring the gym late at night, but when he first arrived, he hadn't seen the spirited fighter using the facilities at all. Just as he was about to head out of the building, he caught sight of him in the gym's window. 

Alright, _now or never_ , K.C..

Cobra turned right back around, heading into the changeroom that would lead into the actual gymnasium. A thought occurred to him in passing that maybe it wasn't the most polite to interrupt someone's training, but Kid Cobra was getting tired and wanted to get this over with. He didn't know how long Misango would train here, and he didn't want to stick-around to find out. Even when he'd first been watching the guy, he gave-up just before midnight and left.

As soon as the heavy door into the room opened, Misango stopped what he was doing and regarded Kid Cobra with a nod before returning to his pressdowns. 

"Not even a 'hello', eh?" Cobra sauntered closer, and once again saw Misango return the bar gently to it's original position. He turned his whole body to face the other man, woven arms stretching-out. 

"Sorry, h--"   
"Naaaah, don't worry about it!" Cobra grabbed Misango's shoulder and gave it a little shake, walking still until he was within a comfortable distance. "You fought well th' other day! I probably slept two whole days after that fight... y' gave me a workout, y'know?" he hissed a chuckle, and Misango didn't seem to react at all. "Eh, hey, man! r you good with pictures? I bet my fans would love t' see me hangin' with the dude who kicked my butt!" 

Misango shook his head and put a hand up politely, "No, thank you." he politely declined before placing a hand on Cobra's shoulder as well and giving a nod. "You fought well, for someone who was sleep-deprived." 

Cobra straightened-out like a curious snake at that, eyes widening, "Wh-where'd y' hear that!?" 

"You were watching me train until midnight."   
"Yeah well... you were  _training_ until midnight! How come  _you_ weren't sleep-deprived?!"

Misango gave a shrug, and after a moment, K.C.'s body relaxed and he laughed good-naturedly. "Alright, alright! Whatever! Yeah, I was off my game-- but next time we fight, I'll have you all figured-out, alright!?" Cobra gently pushed Misango's shoulder and stepped back. He gave a hiss and held his arms up like claws on either side of his mask before twisting on a heel and sauntering back into the changerooms. He remembered too late that he'd gone in there to make Misango laugh.

A shame he didn't see the man grin and shake his head before returning to his workout. 

* * *

It was late. Misango was preparing to leave the building, Ninjara noted. He'd also noted that Kid Cobra had come-in just a few hours prior to speak to Misango, and it didn't look as if that attempt had gotten anywhere. Ninjara internally gained some confidence from that. 

Down the hall, the door to the changerooms opened, and Ninjara disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sure enough, Misango had emerged and was strolling with quite the prideful gait to the building's entrance. He didn't get too far along until the ninja that had been watching him re-appeared in front of him. Misango's eyes widened, and Ninjara assumed that was his version of showing surprise.

Ninjara hadn't meant to appear so suddenly, he was just a bit nervous, but... there was no going back, now. 

He locked-eyes with the taller man and they both stared in silence for a good moment. 

The ninja student remembered his mission. He  ** _must_** win! Udon was so _expensive_ , he couldn't remember the last time he had it! All he had to do was make Misango laugh here,  and he would have that and all the sushi he wanted...

"Erm... you... I... believe you dropped... a sock." Ninjara was pretty sure he'd never seen Misango wear socks. However, Misango still glanced down. 

Suddenly, the ninja became anxious. With a tense, "Uh, forget that! M-my mistake!" he vanished into smoke and reappeared a few steps away, running for the main doors and disappearing into the night. 

Misango had burst-out laughing.

* * *

"Bonjour, _C_ _ombattant Multifacette!_ " Hoo, it wasn't every day someone got a visit from Twintelle. Spring Man's eyes pulled-away from his phone screen immediately. The only reason she had shown-up tonight was because she had a fight tomorrow. 

"Yo, Twintelle!" he gave a friendly smile and a wave, slipping his phone into the back pocket of his jeans. "What can I do for you, uh, Madame _Screen Queen_?" he gave a dramatic bow, which earned a warm laugh in return. "Oh, I have not too much to ask of you, but I'm hearing from... well,  _someone_ and a certain singer that you and a few of your friends have gotten together to try and make Misango laugh. Is this true?" 

Spring Man blanked for a moment. A singer...? How did Ribbon Girl know about this? Whoever told Twintelle must have told her, too! "Uh... y-yeah, that's right! No one's gotten 'im, so far, but I'm determined! Whoever wins gets a free dinner, and all the losers gotta pay for that dinner instead! I'm gonna have a go at making him laugh again." Twintelle grinned at that, head turned down as if she were pressing for more information. 

"Hm... alright. I wish you luck, Spring Man. Sorry I couldn't chat longer, but I'm currently looking for Helix. If you see them, could you please let them know to wait for me in the front foyer of the arena?  _Merci, mon amie!_ " she waved her fingers in goodbye before walking past Spring Man and into the entryway he had been leaning on.

* * *

After then, word got around the Institute about the challenge. Copies of a mysterious list had been put around the various buildings of the _ARMS_   institute, listing the names of the fighters who agreed to take part in the challenge. A surprising amount, including even Helix, Biff and... Max Brass, himself! The only people on the roster missing from the list was Twintelle, but she seemed to have fun talking about the challenge on social media. Other fighters often made reference to it, too. 

For the next week, people scrambled at the rare opportunity to speak to Misango. Master Mummy, Max Brass, Mechanica, Min Min and Kid Cobra all gave a try at Misango that week, but after that decided not to bother. Spring Man and Ribbon Girl were persistent, seeking the newbie out. Lola just did her usual, silly clown tricks every time she saw Misango in passing, and... no one really knew when Helix was trying to make someone laugh.

By the end of that week, no one had made any progress. Whenever Twintelle made an appearance and was asked something regarding the challenge, she chuckled and brushed it off. Even stranger was, despite his name being on the list of challengers, no one heard of Biff trying to humour Misango. 

People began giving-up, but it was undeniable that this challenge had fighters more welcoming to the new one. People had begun calling-out greetings to him in the hall, and offering to train alongside him for various team-based fights (all of which he declined). This once quiet and reserved man was suddenly showing up earlier and earlier in the gym as well, and began using the racing track on-site. People saw him begin to use the training arenas more often, and while he was still elusive, people couldn't help but think he was growing more accustomed to the ARMS Institute and it's fighters, as well.

... Or maybe he wanted to train in an environment more similar to the one's he would be actually fighting in. People liked the latter idea more, though, so they stuck with it.

* * *

Five days had passed since people began to lose interest in the challenge. The mysterious papers were still taped on cork boards here and there, as a reminder, but no one talked about it that much.

Min Min, Kid Cobra, Ninjara, Ribbon Girl and Spring Man had just come out of a team battle exercise (with Ninjara opting to sit-out and eat a bowl of ramen Min Min had brought him). They were tired and sore, but what a rush it was! All of them were smiles and laughter once they walked out of the Arena facility, heading for the nearby park. Even Ninjara's face was content and happy. 

The chatter amongst the group was abruptly halted when a loud bout of laughter came from somewhere in the park. It was strong and deep, but unlike any other fighter's. All five of the friends turned their heads forward, eyes wide when they saw, at a picnic table just a few meters away...

Misango's face joyful. He was leaning back, still laughing heartily. Beside him was Twintelle covering her mouth, trying not to laugh at her friend's obvious glee. The culprit of all of this?

A very smug Biff. 

The announcer spun-around on the bench and hopped off, grinning smugly at the group who was staring at him in awe. In his hand was a phone, presumably recording. The phone was held up to his face and he began to talk to it just as he walked past them, boasting; "So there you have it, folks! The winner of the ARMS Grand Challenge these past two weeks is me, Biff! Thanks to all the competitors for buying me dinner--" He turned his head slightly. In his video, you could see Spring Man, Min Min and Kid Cobra all turn their heads, huffing. "-- I like a good t-bone steak!

_Tune in next time, folks!_ "

 


End file.
